Can I take the FBI fingerprints myself?

[Zoide]

I need to request the FBI police certificate ahead of time in case I ever get an ITA.

Can I just print out the FD-258 PDF on a regular letter-sized sheet using my home inkjet and an ink pad to mark the fingerprints by myself?

If so, do I enter my own name/signature in the field for "SIGNATURE OF OFFICIAL TAKING FINGERPRINTS"?

Thanks

 

[fsw2014 batch]

Yes you can. We did about six sets of prints and sent them. We left the section about the official taking fingerprints blank. Our ingerprints got accepted in the first attempt. So its do able. Give it a shot

 

[MooseNBooze]

I need to request the FBI police certificate ahead of time in case I ever get an ITA.

Can I just print out the FD-258 PDF on a regular letter-sized sheet using my home inkjet and an ink pad to mark the fingerprints by myself?

If so, do I enter my own name/signature in the field for "SIGNATURE OF OFFICIAL TAKING FINGERPRINTS"?

Thanks

This. Our forms are yet to be processed but we did the prints ourselves. In fact, I sent the first set of prints (2 each for me and my spouse) before ITA. But then I saw that some posters' prints were rejected. So we sent in another round of requests, with half a dozen sets of prints. I am hoping that my first request goes through.

Having said all this, I strongly recommend OP to go to a professional, if such service is available in your area. Not worth taking the risk. Best wishes.

 

[Zoide]

There don't seem to be such professional services in my country, but I'm going on a business trip to the US soon and a quick Google search revealed a well-reviewed place in the area.

I'm going to try the professional place, but your advice might still be useful for other people.

Thanks everyone!

 

[bassem.mf]

I had to do it myself because there are no professional fingerprinting services where I live (Egypt).

First I used a regular inkpad. I spent a whole day trying to get fingerprints as good as possible. And I sent 10 sets to FBI. I was not very happy with the quality but there was no way to get a better quality with the ink I was using.

Then the next day I continued searching the internet and I found plenty of posts about people whose fingerprints were rejected after a 4-5 months wait. This got me very worried. So I decided to order an "Inkless Fingerprint Pad" from Amazon. Shipping to Egypt cost me a lot. But anything was better than my fingerprints getting rejected and wasting 4-5 months on a second attempt.

I created another 10 sets using the inkless pad a sent another application to FBI. The inkless pad gave me a WAY better quality. So I was much more confident about my second application.

I also had to call FBI to ask them about some of the fields on the form. This was months ago and I do not remember their instructions. So I will just recommend that you call them if you are not sure about how to fill certain fields.

Final result ... both of my applications were accepted and I got 2 PCC certificates

 

[Zoide]

I had to do it myself because there are no professional fingerprinting services where I live (Egypt).

First I used a regular inkpad. I spent a whole day trying to get fingerprints as good as possible. And I sent 10 sets to FBI. I was not very happy with the quality but there was no way to get a better quality with the ink I was using.

Then the next day I continued searching the internet and I found plenty of posts about people whose fingerprints were rejected after a 4-5 months wait. This got me very worried. So I decided to order an "Inkless Fingerprint Pad" from Amazon. Shipping to Egypt cost me a lot. But anything was better than my fingerprints getting rejected and wasting 4-5 months on a second attempt.

I created another 10 sets using the inkless pad a sent another application to FBI. The inkless pad gave me a WAY better quality. So I was much more confident about my second application.

I also had to call FBI to ask them about some of the fields on the form. This was months ago and I do not remember their instructions. So I will just recommend that you call them if you are not sure about how to fill certain fields.

Final result ... both of my applications were accepted and I got 2 PCC certificates

Nice tip with the inkless pad, thanks!

I actually had a chance to travel to the US and tok the chance to go to a police station to get my prints taken with a machine. I was very worried because it looked like one of my pinkies' imprints got cropped, but in the end it seems to have worked. A few months later I was mailed a letter that simply says something like "We found no criminal records for so-and-so".

 

[andy108]

As mentioned get as many done as possible, and still there are no guarantee. I've done with 3 different officers, just in case and the difference is drastic - how they do it and what the prints look like

 

[khaledsalah]

I had to do it myself because there are no professional fingerprinting services where I live (Egypt).

First I used a regular inkpad. I spent a whole day trying to get fingerprints as good as possible. And I sent 10 sets to FBI. I was not very happy with the quality but there was no way to get a better quality with the ink I was using.

Then the next day I continued searching the internet and I found plenty of posts about people whose fingerprints were rejected after a 4-5 months wait. This got me very worried. So I decided to order an "Inkless Fingerprint Pad" from Amazon. Shipping to Egypt cost me a lot. But anything was better than my fingerprints getting rejected and wasting 4-5 months on a second attempt.

I created another 10 sets using the inkless pad a sent another application to FBI. The inkless pad gave me a WAY better quality. So I was much more confident about my second application.

I also had to call FBI to ask them about some of the fields on the form. This was months ago and I do not remember their instructions. So I will just recommend that you call them if you are not sure about how to fill certain fields.

Final result ... both of my applications were accepted and I got 2 PCC certificates

hey there,
I was almost making up my mind to go to the US to have my fingerprints taken before coming across your post. I spent the past 3 months trying to find a legit way to fill my FD-258 card, and I haven't found a consistent answer so far. The US embassy advised me to have my prints taken by the Civil Status Organization and stamped by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both of which had no clue about those procedures. I called the FBI recently and they verified that I can do it myself. I'm reaching out to you because I need some help. I would appreciate it if you shoot me an email with your phone number.
Thanks in advance!

 

[DEEPCUR]

Just out of curiosity, I am wondering how this process can be foul proof if someone can fingerprint it by themselves. Anyone with crime record can submit someone else's fingerprints and get a clean report right? I understand it's a misrepresentation etc. etc. etc... but is it not a big loophole?

 

[kaoruchan]

I want to do the fingerprinting myself since in my area, it is like 450 us dollars for the service, crazy!!!! For the part where I need to get an officer to sign, can I leave it blank? Will they accept this?

 

[Anu1117]

I had to do it myself because there are no professional fingerprinting services where I live (Egypt).

First I used a regular inkpad. I spent a whole day trying to get fingerprints as good as possible. And I sent 10 sets to FBI. I was not very happy with the quality but there was no way to get a better quality with the ink I was using.

Then the next day I continued searching the internet and I found plenty of posts about people whose fingerprints were rejected after a 4-5 months wait. This got me very worried. So I decided to order an "Inkless Fingerprint Pad" from Amazon. Shipping to Egypt cost me a lot. But anything was better than my fingerprints getting rejected and wasting 4-5 months on a second attempt.

I created another 10 sets using the inkless pad a sent another application to FBI. The inkless pad gave me a WAY better quality. So I was much more confident about my second application.

I also had to call FBI to ask them about some of the fields on the form. This was months ago and I do not remember their instructions. So I will just recommend that you call them if you are not sure about how to fill certain fields.

Final result ... both of my applications were accepted and I got 2 PCC certificates

To use Inkless pads dont we need ink less paper too ? as far as i know it doesn't work on normal paper right ?